Is Ulster Right? by Anonymous

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I have already shown, that meant Anglican ascendancy in whichPresbyterianism did not participate; hence, when the agitation forDisestablishment arose, though some few Presbyterians greatly dislikedit, their opposition as a whole was lukewarm. But when in 1886 HomeRule became a question of practical politics, they rose up against itas one man; in 1893, when the second Home Rule Bill was introduced andactually passed the House of Commons, they commenced organising theirVolunteer army to resist it, if necessary, by force of arms; andthey are just as keen to-day as they were twenty years ago. They arecertainly not disloyal; the republican spirit which permeatedtheir ancestors in the eighteenth century has long since died outcompletely. Sir Walter Scott said that if he had lived at the time ofthe Union between Scotland and England, he would have fought againstit; but, living a century later and seeing the benefit that it hadbeen to his country, his feelings were all on the other side. That iswhat the Presbyterians of Ulster say to-day. They point to the way inwhich Ulster has, under the Union, been able to develop itself; withno richer soil, no better climate, and no greater natural advantagesthan other parts of Ireland, the energy, ability, and true patriotismof the people have enabled them to establish and encourage commerceand manufactures which have brought wealth and prosperity to Ulsterwhilst the other Provinces have been stationary or retrograde. Therecannot be a better instance of the different spirit which animates thetwo communities than the history of the linen industry. Michael Davittbitterly described it as "Not an Irish, but an Orange industry." Andfrom his point of view, he was quite right; for it is practicallyconfined to Ulster. In that Province it has during the nineteenthcentury developed so steadily that the annual export now exceedsL15,000,000 in value and more than 70,000 hands are employed in themills. Not long ago, a Royal Commission was appointed to enquirewhether it was not possible to grow flax in the south and west, andif so why it was not done. The Commission made careful enquiries, andreported that in both Munster and Connaught efforts had been made toestablish the industry (notably by the late Lord Bandon, one of themuch-abused landlord class, who had let land for the purpose at anominal charge, obtained seed and brought experts from the northto instruct the people); that it had been proved that both soil andclimate were quite as well adapted for it as in Ulster; but that aftera few years the buyers refused any longer to purchase the flax as itwas so carelessly and badly prepared that it was valueless; and sothe industry had died out. In both south and west the people expressedtheir readiness to revive it if a large grant were made to them by theGovernment, but not otherwise.

Then again we may take the growth of the cities. It seems hard now torealise that one reason why the people of Dublin opposed the Union wasbecause they feared lest, when their city ceased to be the capital,Cork might grow into a great industrial centre and surpass it. Corkhas remained stationary ever since; Belfast, then an insignificantcountry town, has become a city of 400,000 inhabitants, and thecustoms from it alone are more than double those from all the rest ofIreland put together. And what is true of Belfast is true also on asmaller scale of all the other towns north of the Boyne.

This remarkable contrast between the progress of the north-east andthe stagnation of the rest of the country is no new thing. It has beenobserved ever since the Union. So long ago as 1832 the Report of theCommission on the linen manufacture of Ireland contained the followingwords:--

"Political and religious animosities and dissensions, and increasing agitation first for one object and then for another have so destroyed confidence and shaken the bonds of society--undermined men's principles and estranged neighbour from neighbour, friend from friend, and class from class--that, in lieu of observing any common effort to ameliorate the condition of the people, we find every proposition for this object, emanate from which party it may, received with distrust by the other; maligned, perverted and destroyed, to gratify the political purposes of a faction.... The comparative prosperity enjoyed by that portion of Ireland where tranquillity ordinarily prevails, such as the Counties Down, Antrim, and Derry, testify the capabilities of Ireland to work out her own regeneration, when freed of the disturbing causes which have so long impeded her progress in civilization and improvement. We find there a population hardy, healthy and employed; capital fast flowing into the district; new sources of employment daily developing themselves; a people well disposed alike to the government and institutions of their country; and not distrustful and jealous of their superiors. Contrast the social condition of these people with such pictures as we have presented to us from other districts."

This energetic, self-reliant and prosperous community now see beforetheir eyes what the practical working of government by the League is.They see it generally in the condition of the country, and especiallyin the Dublin Convention of 1909, the narrow-minded administration ofthe Local Government Act wherever the power of the League prevails,and the insecurity for life and property in the west; they know alsothat a Home Rule Government must mean increased taxation (as theNationalists themselves confess) which will probably--in fact, one mayalmost say must certainly, as no other source is available--be thrownon the Ulster manufactures; is it not therefore a matter of life anddeath to them to resist it to the uttermost?

But as I have said, the great line of cleavage is religion. Here Iknow that I shall be accused of "Orange bigotry." But I am not afraidof the charge; first because I do not happen to be an Orangeman; andsecondly because I regard bigotry as the outcome of ignorance andprejudice, and consider therefore that a calm examination of theevidence is the very antithesis of bigotry. In order to make thisexamination I desire in the first place to avoid the mistake thatGrattan made in judging the probabilities of the future from theopinions of personal friends whom I like and respect, but who, as Iknow (and regret to think), possess no influence whatever. I considerthat there are other data--such as works of authority, the actionof the public bodies, statements by men in prominent positions,and articles in leading journals--from which it is safer to forman estimate. The Ulstermen are content that the country should begoverned, as far as religion is concerned, on modern principles--thatis to say, in much the same way that England, Australia and NewZealand are governed to-day. The Nationalists, whatever they maysay in England or the Colonies, have never in Ireland from thecommencement of the movement attempted to deny that their object isto see Ireland governed on principles which are totally differentand which the Ulstermen detest. As long ago as 1886, the _Freeman'sJournal_, the leading Nationalist organ, said:--

"We contend that the good government of Ireland by England is impossible ... the one people has not only accepted but retained with inviolable constancy the Christian faith; the other has not only rejected it, but has been for three centuries the leader of the great apostasy, and is at this day the principal obstacle to the conversion of the world."

And as recently as December 1912, Professor Nolan of Maynooth,addressing the Roman Catholic students at the Belfast University,said:--

"Humanly speaking, we are on the eve of Home Rule. We shall have a free hand in the future. Let us use it well. This is a Catholic country, and if we do not govern it on Catholic lines, according to Catholic ideals, and to safe-guard Catholic interests, it will be all the worse for the country and all the worse for us. We have now a momentous opportunity of changing the whole course of Irish history."

Then another of their papers, the _Rosary_, has said: "We haveplayed the game of tolerance until the game is played out"; and hasprophesied that under Home Rule the Church will become an irresistibleengine before whom all opposition must go down. And whatever theeducated laity may desire, no one who knows Ireland can doubt thatit is the clerical faction that will be all-powerful. The leadingecclesiastics are trained at the Gregorian University at Rome; andone of the Professors at that institution, in a work published in 1901with the special approval of Pope Leo XIII, enunciated the doctrinethat it is the duty of a Christian State to put to death hereticswho have been condemned by the Ecclesiastical Court. Of course no onesupposes that such a thing will ever take place in Ireland; but whatthe Ulstermen object to is putting themselves under the rule ofmen who have been trained in such principles and believe them to beapproved by an infallible authority.

In 1904 some foreign merchants at Barcelona wished to build a churchfor themselves. Republican feeling is so strong in the municipalitythat permission was obtained without difficulty. But the bishopat once protested and appealed to the King. The King wrote back asympathetic letter expressing his deep regret that he was unable toprevent this fresh attack on the Catholic faith.

We are constantly being told that the tolerance and liberality shownby the majority in Quebec is sufficient of itself to prove how foolishare the apprehensions felt by the minority in Ireland. Well, I willquote from a journal which cannot be accused of Protestant bias,the _Irish Independent_, one of the leading organs of theNationalist-clerical party in Ireland:--

"(From our own Correspondent.)

"Montreal, Thursday.

"In connection with the celebration of the anniversary of Wolfe's victory and death, which takes place in September, prominent members of the Anglican Church have inaugurated a movement for the erection of a Wolfe Memorial Chapel on the Plains of Abraham. The organisers of the movement hope ultimately to secure the transfer of the General's remains to the chapel for interment on the scene of his victory.

"The population being largely French-Canadian Catholics, the Catholic Church organ of Quebec strongly protests against the erection of an Anglican chapel in the heart of a Catholic district."

Now if this conduct on the part of the Roman Catholic authorities isquite right at Barcelona and Quebec, why is it "Orange bigotry"to suggest that the same people may act in the same way at Cork orGalway?

Again, in 1910, a remarkable volume was published, written by Mrs.Hugh Fraser, the sister of the novelist, Marion Crawford, entitled "ADiplomat's Wife in Many Lands." The authoress was a very able woman,who had travelled much and mixed in cultured society wherever she hadbeen; her book was highly reviewed by various English Magazines. Shetells the story of a child of Jewish parents living at Rome in thedays of Pope Pius IX, who was secretly baptized in infancy by a nurse,and at the age of seven was forcibly taken from his parents and placedin a Convent School. She explains that not only was this quite right,but that such a course is inevitable in every country in which theChurch has power; and that the feelings of the heretic mother whosechild is taken from her are a fair subject of ridicule on the part ofgood Catholics. Can Irish Protestants be accused of bigotry when theycontend that these writers mean what they say? English Nonconformistsargue that they ought to wait until the time comes and then eitherfight or leave the country; but the Irish Protestants reply that itis more sensible to take steps beforehand to ward off the danger. Andwhether they are right or wrong, the fact remains that those are theirideas, and that is their determination; and this is the situationwhich must be faced if Home Rule is forced upon the people of Ulster.

By a striking coincidence, two meetings have recently been held on thesame day--the 16th of May 1913--which form an apt illustration ofthe position adopted by the two parties. The first was a greatdemonstration of Unionists at Belfast, organised in order to make afurther protest against the Bill and to perfect the organisation foropposing it by force, if the necessity arises; the second was a largemeeting of the United Irish League at Mullingar. The Chairman, Mr.Ginnell, M.P. (who has gained prominence and popularity by his skillin arranging cattle-drives), said that the chief cause of the pressurelast session was to get the Home Rule Bill through its first stage. Itwas still called a Home Rule Bill, though differing widely fromwhat most of them always understood by Home Rule. Deeply though heregretted the Bill's defects and limitations, still he thought almostany Parliament in Ireland was worth accepting--first, because it wasin some sense a recognition of the right to govern themselves; andsecondly, because even a crippled Parliament would give them freshleverage for complete freedom. No one could be silly enough to supposethat an intelligent Ireland, having any sort of a Parliament of itsown, would be prevented by any promise given now by place-hunters,from using that Parliament for true national purposes.

That no army which the Ulstermen can form will be able to standagainst British troops supported by cavalry and artillery is evident;but it seems almost past belief that England should be ready toplunge the country into civil war; or that British troops should marchout--with bands playing "Bloody England, we hate you still," or someother inspiring Nationalist air--to shoot down Ulstermen who will cometo meet them waving the Union Jack and shouting "God save the King."And if they do--what then? Lord Wolseley, when Commander-in-Chief inIreland in 1893, pointed out the probable effect on the British Armyin a letter to the Duke of Cambridge:--

"If ever our troops are brought into collision with the loyalists of Ulster, and blood is shed, it will shake the whole foundations upon which our army rests to such an extent that I feel that our Army will never be the same again. Many officers will resign to join Ulster, and there will be such a host of retired officers in the Ulster ranks that men who would stand by the Government no matter what it did, will be worse than half-hearted in all they do. No army could stand such a strain upon it."

And then England, having crushed her natural allies in Ulster, willhand over the Government of Ireland to a party whose avowed objectis to break up the Empire and form a separate Republic. Dangers anddifficulties arose even when the independent legislature of Irelandwas in the hands of men who were loyal and patriotic in the noblestsense of the term, and when there were in every district a certainnumber of educated gentlemen of position who (as we have seen) werealways ready to risk their lives and fortunes for the defence of therealm; what will happen when the loyal minority have been shot down,driven out of the country, or forced into bitter hostility to theGovernment who have betrayed and deserted them? As Lecky wrote yearsago:--

"It is scarcely possible to over-estimate the danger that would arise if the vast moral legislative, and even administrative powers which every separate legislature must necessarily possess, were exercised in any near and vital part of the British Empire, by men who were disloyal to its interests. To place the government of a country by a voluntary and deliberate act in the hands of dishonest and disloyal men, is perhaps the greatest crime that a public man can commit: a crime which, in proportion to the strength and soundness of national morality, must consign those who are guilty of it to undying infamy."

If English people are so blind that they cannot perceive this,foreigners, whose vision is clearer, have warned them. Bismarck saidthat England, by granting Home Rule to Ireland, would dig its owngrave; and Admiral Mahan has recently written:--

"It is impossible for a military man or a statesman to look at the map and not perceive that the ambition of the Irish separatists, if realised, would be even more threatening to the national life of Great Britain than the secession of the South was to the American Union.

"The legislative supremacy of the British Parliament against the assertion of which the American Colonists revolted and which to-day would be found intolerable in Canada and Australia cannot be yielded in the case of an island, where independent action might very well be attended with fatal consequences to its partner. The instrument for such action, in the shape of an independent Parliament, could not be safely trusted even to avowed friends."

So then, having reviewed the evidence as calmly and dispassionately asI can, I answer the two questions which I propounded at the outset ofthe enquiry--That the real objects of the Nationalists are thetotal separation of Ireland from England and the establishment of anIndependent Republic; and that the men of Ulster in resisting themto the uttermost are not merely justified on the ground ofself-preservation, but are in reality fighting for the cause of theEmpire.

NOTE.

The following Report of the Annual Pilgrimage in memory of Wolfe Tone,which took place on the 22nd of June last, and the article in the_Leinster Leader_ (a prominent Nationalist journal) will show howclosely the Nationalists of to-day follow in the footsteps of WolfeTone.

THE MEMORY OF WOLFE TONE.

ANNUAL PILGRIMAGE TO BODENSTOWN.

(_From our Reporter_.)

On Sunday last the annual pilgrimage to the grave of Theobald WolfeTone took place to Bodenstown churchyard. This year the numbers whoattended exceeded those of last year, about a thousand coming fromDublin and another contingent from Tullamore, Clare, and Athlone. Theprocession formed outside Sallins station was a most imposing one,being made up of St. James' Brass Band and the Lorcan O'Toole Pipers'Band and the Athlone Pipers' Band, the National Boy Scouts, theDaughters of Erin, and members of the Wolfe Tone Memorial Clubs.

At the graveside demonstration, Mr. Thos. J. Clarke presided and saidit was a gratifying thing that numbers of their fellow-countrymen wereto-day swinging back to the old fighting line and taking pride in theold Fenian principles. He introduced Mr. P.H. Pearse, B.A.

Mr. Pearse then came forward and delivered an eloquent and impressiveoration, first speaking in Irish. Speaking in English, he said theyhad come to the holiest place in Ireland, holier to them than thatsacred spot where Patrick sleeps in Down. Patrick brought them life,but Wolfe Tone died for them. Though many had testified in deathto the truth of Ireland's claim to Nationhood, Wolfe Tone was thegreatest of all that had made that testimony; he was the greatest ofIreland's dead. They stood in the holiest place in Ireland, for whatspot of the Nation's soil could be holier than the spot in which thegreatest of her dead lay buried. He found it difficult to speak inthat place, and he knew they all partook of his emotion. There wereno strangers there for they were all in a sense own brothers to Tone(hear, hear). They shared his faith, his hope still unrealised andhis great love. They had come there that day not merely to salute thisnoble dust and to pay their homage to the noble spirit of Tone, butto renew their adhesion to the faith of Tone and to express theirfull acceptance of the gospel of which Tone had given such a cleardefinition. That gospel had been taught before him by English-speakingmen, uttered half-articulately by Shan O'Neill, expressed in somepassionate metaphor by Geoffrey Keating, and hinted at by Swift insome bitter jibe, but it was stated definitely and emphatically byWolfe Tone and it did not need to be ever again stated anew for anynew generation. Tone was great in mind, but he was still greater inspirit. He had the clear vision of the prophet; he saw things as theywere and saw things as they would be. They owed more to this dead manthan they should be ever able to repay him by making pilgrimages tohis grave or building the stateliest monuments in the streets ofhis city. They owed it to him that there was such a thing as IrishNationalism; to his memory and the memory of '98 they owed it thatthere was any manhood left in Ireland (hear, hear). The soul ofWolfe Tone was like a burning flame, a flame so pure, so ardent, sogenerous, that to come into communion with it was as a new optimismand regeneration. Let them try in some way to get into contact withthe spirit of Tone and possess themselves of its ardour. If they coulddo that it would be a good thing for them and their country, becausethey would carry away with them a new life from that place of deathand there would be a new resurrection of patriotic grace in theirsouls (hear, hear). Let them think of Tone; think of his boyhoodand young manhood in Dublin and in Kildare; think of his adventurousspirit and plans, think of his glorious failure at the bar, and hishealthy contempt for what he called a foolish wig and gown, think howthe call of Ireland came to him; think how he obeyed that call; thinkhow he put virility into the Catholic movement; think how this heretictoiled to make freemen of Catholic helots (applause). Think how hegrew to love the real and historic Irish nation, and then there cameto him that clear conception that there must be in Ireland not threenations but one; that Protestant and Dissenter must close in amitywith Catholic, and Catholic, Protestant and Dissenter must unite toachieve freedom for all (applause). Let them consider the sacrificesTone had made; he had to leave so much. Never was there a man who wasso richly endowed as he was, he had so much love in his warm heart. He(speaker) would rather have known Tone than any other man of whom heever read or heard. He never read of any one man who had more in himof the heroic stuff than Tone had; how gaily and gallantly he had setabout the doing of a mighty thing. He (speaker) had always loved thevery name of Thomas Russell because Tone so loved him. To be Tone'sfriend! What a privilege! for Tone had for his friends an immenselove, an immense charity. He had such love for his wife and children!But such was the destiny of the heroes of their nation; they hadto stifle in their hearts all that love and that sweet music and tofollow only the faint voice that called them to the battlefield or tothe harder death at the foot of the gibbet. Tone heard that voice andobeyed it and from his grave to-day he was calling on them and theywere there to answer his voice; and they pledged themselves tocarry out his programme to abolish the connection with England,the never-failing source of political evils and to establishthe independence of their country, to abolish the memory of pastdissensions, and to replace for the denominations of Protestant,Catholic and Dissenter, the common name of Irishman (applause).In that programme was to be found the whole philosophy of IrishNationality; that programme included the philosophy of the GaelicLeague and of later prophets, and it was to that programme theypledged their adhesion; they pledged it now at the graveside of Tone;they pledged themselves to follow in the steps of Tone, never to restby day or night until this be accomplished, until Ireland be free(applause); fighting on, not in despondency, but in great joy as Tonefought; prizing it above all privileges, and hoping for the victory intheir own day. And if it should be granted to them in this generationto complete the work that Tone's generation left unaccomplished! Butif that was not their destiny, they should fight on still, hopingstill, self-sacrificing still, knowing as they must know that causeslike this did not lose for ever, and that men like Tone did not die invain (applause).

The address having concluded, wreaths were placed on the grave by theNational Boy Scouts and the Inghanite Na h-Eireann.

During the afternoon an aeridheacht was held in an adjoining field atwhich music, songs and recitations were contributed, and a thoroughlyenjoyable Irish-Ireland evening was spent.

AT THE GRAVE OF WOLFE TONE.

The lifework of Theobald Wolfe Tone, for the subversion of EnglishGovernment in Ireland, and the supreme sacrifice he made in the mightyeffort to erect in its stead an independent Ireland free from allforeign denomination and control, was fittingly commemorated on Sundaylast, when the annual pilgrimage took place to Bodenstown Churchyard,where all that is mortal of the great patriot lie buried. Thepilgrimage this year was worthy of the cause and the man, and affordedsome object lessons in what might be accomplished by a cultivation ofthose principles of discipline and devotion to duty, in the pursuitof a glorious ideal, which Tone taught and adhered to throughout hisadventurous and brilliant career. The well-ordered procession,the ready obedience to the commands of the marshals, the intenseearnestness of the multitude, and the display made by the youths--thenational boy scouts--their military bearing, and the bands and bannerswhich interspersed the procession as it marched from Sallins toBodenstown was a spectacle which pleased the eye and stirred theemotions. Everything in connection with the pilgrimage was carried outwith a close attention to detail, and military-like precision whichmust have been very acceptable to the great patriot in whose honourit was organised, were he but permitted to gaze from the great Unknownupon this practical demonstration of the perpetuation of the spiritwhich animated him and his time, in the struggle against Englishmisrule, and the love and veneration in which he is still held, afterthe lapse of the century and more that has passed since he made thefinal sacrifice of his life in the cause of freedom. Tone done todeath did not die in vain. The truth of this was evident in thecharacter of the pilgrimage on Sunday last, when all that is best andpurest in patriotism in the land assembled at his graveside, to renewfealty to the aims and ideals for which he suffered and died, and tohear the gospel of Irish nationality preached and expounded as he knewand inculcated it in his day. A fusion of forces, and the cultivationof a spirit and bond of brotherhood and friendship amongst Irishmenin the common cause, were his methods to attain the great ideal ofa separate and distinct nationality, for then, as to-day, the chiefobstacle to freedom and nationhood was not so much English dominationin itself, as want of cohesion, faction, and the disruption causedby alien traditions and teachings. This was the prevailing spirit ofSunday's commemoration, and as the great mass of people filed past inorderly array and knelt, prayed, and laid wreaths on the lonely grave,the solemnity and impressiveness of the occasion was intensified.In the suppressed murmurs, and silent gaze on the tomb of the mightydead, one could recognise the eagerness and the hope for another Toneto arise to complete the work which he promoted, and vindicate thepurity of the motives which moved men like the leaders of '98 to doand dare for all, and to "substitute the common name of Irishmanfor Catholic, Protestant, and Dissenter." The promoters, too, werefortunate in their choice of orator for the occasion. Mr. P.H. Pearsedid full justice to the occasion, and in language, beautiful andimpressive, pictured the man and his movements and the lessons to bedrawn by us to-day from the lifework of leaders in thought and actionlike Tone. Close and consistent adhesion to principles of patriotismand a readiness of self-sacrifice in the pursuit of those principles,were his distinguishing characteristics all through life, and if we inour time would emulate the example of Tone and his times, we must alsobe ready when the call came to meet any demand made upon us for thepromotion of our national welfare. The orator of the day rightly, inour opinion, described that hallowed spot in Bodenstown as one of theholiest places in Ireland to-day, from the nationalist standpoint,holding as it does the ashes of the man who, without friends, money orinfluence to help him, and by sheer force of character, intensity ofpurpose and earnestness, prevailed upon the greatest emperor-generalthe world has ever seen Napoleon Bonaparte, to make a descent onIreland, in order to aid our starved, tortured, and persecuted peopleto shake off the shackles that kept them in slavery, and elevateIreland once more to the dignity of full, free, and untrammellednationhood. We are all familiar with the events following this greateffort of Tone's, and the dark chapters that closed a glorious career.All that is mortal of Tone is in the keeping of Kildare, and it isa trust that we feel sure is not alone felt to be a high honour,but which cannot fail to keep the cultivation of a high standard ofnationality before the people in whose midst repose the remains of oneof Ireland's greatest sons. Ireland, from the centre to the sea,was represented in Sunday's great gathering to commemorate theachievements of Wolfe Tone, and the occasion was honoured first bythe large and representative character of the throng, secondly by thedecorum observed all through the day's proceedings, and thirdly, bythe regularity and precision which attended the entire arrangements.There was just one other feature which must have been very gratifyingto those identified with the organisation of the pilgrimage,namely: the large proportion of ladies and young people, coming longdistances, who made up the gathering. And they were by no means theleast enthusiastic of the throng. This enthusiasm amongst our youngpeople is one of the most encouraging and promising signs of thetimes, serving as it does to demonstrate the undying spirit of Irishnationality, and the perpetuation of those principles to which Tonedevoted his time, talents, and eventually made the supreme sacrificeof his life in having inculcated amongst his people. It is a gloriouslegacy, and one that has ever been cherished with veneration for themen who left it. He died a martyr to the cause he espoused, but hismemory and the cause live. The living blaze he and his co-workers, inthe cause of Irish freedom, kindled has never been completely stampedout, and it still smoulders, and has occasionally burst into flameonly to be temporarily extinguished in the blood and tears of ourbravest and best who never forgot the teachings of Tone. And now, whenthe sky is bright once more, and every circumstance portends the dawnof a new era, full of hope and promise for the ultimate realisationof those ideals for which thousands of our race have sacrificed theirlives, the spark of nationality which, even since Tone's death, hasrepeatedly leaped into flame, still glows fitfully to remind us thatcome what may it remains undying and unquenchable, a beacon to lightus on the path to freedom should disappointment and dashed hopes againdarken the outlook.